Chapter 31: Instant Kill

　The first to move was Sylha.

　Without warning, Sylha unleashed her secret technique—a fist imbued with wind magic—directly at the cat.

　The cat saw this and realized that its “cat act” strategy had failed.

　Immediately, it sprang to its feet and lunged full force to dodge Sylha’s punch.

　But there was no way it could easily avoid a ninth-tier punch.

　The cat took the full brunt of the attack, collapsing into a near-death state.

“So weak!”

“Well, that’s because 【Command Tower】 is a special, brain-type individual. No wonder it lacks combat prowess.”

　Liluria shouted at the cat’s extreme weakness.

　But being weak isn’t all bad.

　If we defeat the cat now, the mission entrusted to us will be complete—and the nation’s crisis will be over.

“Grr, humans! What have I done?! I was merely riding my friend the crow, soaring about in the sky!”

　Incredible, this cat.

　Does it still think that no one has noticed it inciting a horde of monsters at 【Rozy】?

“No, it’s your fault for commanding the monsters that this catastrophe occurred. Take responsibility for causing all this trouble!”

“Grr, so you figured it out that much?”

　Of course it would be found out!

　After all, you don’t come across a talking cat in another world for nothing—and if one’s commanding monsters and flying through the sky, no one would doubt who the culprit is.

“Next… I’ll kill you.”

　Sylha, her fighting spirit surging, assumed a fighting stance.

“W-w-wait a minute! Are you telling me that if you kill me, the monsters will revert back to normal? That’s a huge misunderstanding, you know?”

“Misunderstanding? While the previous 【Command Tower】’s ability was nullified by death, are you saying yours is different?”

“【Command Tower】? Ah, so humans call my ability that, huh. Hmm, I don’t really know what the earlier 【Command Tower】 was like, but my ability isn’t the same.”

　Saying that, the cat began to speak, gasping for breath.

“My ability ensures that the effect of my command persists indefinitely—until I call it off. Even if I die. Now then, human: if you truly wish to save your country, guarantee my safety. And hand over a year’s supply of fish.”

　What a troublesome ability.

　If the cat’s words are true, then defeating it here would be meaningless.

　In that case, it might be wiser to let the cat be—as it requested—and have it cancel its orders to the monsters.

　Still, how on earth is this cat supposed to carry home a year’s worth of fish?

　No matter how you look at it, they’d spoil before being eaten.

“By the way, why did you attack this country?”

　I asked the cat what motivated it to cause all this chaos.

“Why? Because if I could seize a human country, I’d live in luxury. Humans are nothing but inferior versions of monsters—they’re weak and can’t survive on their own. That’s why I chose to abide by the law of the jungle and wipe them out.”

“I see. That makes sense.”

　I mulled over the cat’s words, considering how best to minimize the damage.

　Frankly, I couldn’t care less about anyone other than my party, but it’d feel a bit better if more human lives were saved.

　So I pondered deeply and reached a conclusion.

“Sylha, do it.”

“Okay!”

“What?! Are you out of your mind, human?! If you kill me, the monsters will—”

　Obeying my order, Sylha immediately took up her stance and then,

　Zudoooooon!

　She unleashed a full-power strike at the cat.

“…Alright.”

“It’s not ‘alright’—it’s a disaster! What are we going to do now?! Now there’s no one left who can cancel the monsters’ command!!”

“Smack!” Liluria struck my head with a crisp, satisfying blow.

　I never imagined that after being told off so thoroughly, she’d actually go and kill the cat. With a panicked look, she pointed at the crater where the cat had been.

“Come on, Liluria, calm down. It couldn’t be helped—you were totally throwing that annoying ‘I’m running the show’ vibe, after all.”

“You killed the cat for that reason?! Ugh, what are we going to do now?! We still have to wipe out all the monsters!”

　Liluria groaned, cradling her head as she muttered, “What are we gonna do now?!”

　But then again, that cat was a monster with a dangerous mindset—considering humans nothing but trash. There was no way it would cancel its order to attack the country, and it might even be preparing a more outrageous assault next. Monsters with special abilities like that should be killed on sight…

“But I think it’s for the best, you know? If we let that troublesome monster slip away, sooner or later some country’s bound to get wiped out. Besides, all that’s left are the lowlifes who just follow orders. With that threat gone, we don’t have to worry about more monsters spawning—and given a little time, we can handle the rest.”

“Besides, our mission was to defeat that special individual, right? With that done, let’s just head home.”

“Oh, sounds good. Sylha, nice idea. Then let’s go home—collect the reward once things settle down.”

　What a commotion it had been. I had no idea when this country would regain its calm, but if we went to collect our reward now, it was obvious we’d be saddled with another job. As a proud NEET, I couldn’t take on any more work—NEETs only have so many action turns per day. Today, I’d spent every single turn working, and my mental exhaustion was maxed out. At this rate, I might not be able to leave the house for a week. For now, I’d have to borrow some living expenses from rich Zenon.

“Before you know it, even the horse’s wandered off. Zenon, can you use your teleportation magic to send us home?”

“Eh? Using teleportation magic for four people is seriously exhausting, you know.”

　Is that so?
　 　Well, it’s true that using immense power comes at a price. But if we had to walk home from here, I couldn’t even imagine how many hours that’d take. I really hope Zenon will give it her best shot with her teleportation magic…

“But if ‘Darling’ insists, maybe I can work something out.”

“Insists? Absolutely insists.”

“I see. So, Darling? Now hand over the right to have Darling free for a day. Don’t worry—I promise not to do anything too terrible.”

　Earlier, I’d gotten the right to have Liluria free for a day, but now it seemed I had to give someone the right to have me free for a day. I really didn’t like that—Zenon’s idea of freedom was absolutely useless. It’d probably involve having your blood drawn all day or electrodes stuck in your head in some outrageous experiment.

“…How about a human experiment?”

“No way! What do you take me for?!”

　Well, if there’s no actual human experimentation involved, I suppose I can agree.

“Alright, fine.”

“Yes! Now I can finally get a step ahead of the other three!”

　Even Zenon, usually so calm and composed, pumped her fist in excitement. Then Sylha reproached me.

“Hey, you—favoring Zenon so much is unfair! Give me the right to do whatever I want with you too—as a reward for killing the 【Command Tower】!”

“Of course, Sylha, that’s fine.”

“Yay!”

　With Sylha, I knew she wouldn’t subject me to any human experiments or make any extreme demands.

“That’s so mean, Darling! You’re handling this completely differently from how you did with me last time!”

　Maybe that’s just a difference in trust?

“Huh?! Wait a minute—what about me? I don’t get any, do I?!”

“Liluria, I already have the right to do whatever I want with you.”

“Eh? …Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it then. But I’m expecting something, you know?”

　I couldn’t help but wonder what this pervy princess was expecting in that head of hers. Since everything was settled, I asked Zenon to activate her teleportation magic.

“Okay. Let’s go then!”

　Shun

～～～～～～

　And so, without particularly resolving the unprecedented monster assault on Rozy, we simply returned home. Near the border, adventurers and guards were still doing their best to exterminate the monsters. As adventurers—or as citizens living in Rozy—we might have been expected to join in, but that wasn’t our job. We had completed the major task assigned by the Adventurer’s Guild: defeating that special individual. So surely, no one would complain if we just lazed around at home.

　Wishing that as few people as possible had been hurt, we enjoyed a yakiniku dinner made from high-quality meat purchased with Zenon’s money. The meat, eaten while everyone else was working as if their lives depended on it, was incredibly delicious.